I'm a J1 scholar from France with a tax treaty. In september 2017, I became a resident alien for tax purposes after beinga non resident tax exempt for 2 years, which means I have to file as a dual status alien this year, and we have to file married separately. Or could we elect to file jointly and be considered Resident alien for the whole year ? Or is it not possible because I claimed a treaty during the Non resident part of the year ? Also, my wife is a J2 and started working in August 2017, does she have to prorate her earnings for August to fill the non resident part of the year in 1040NR, and then prorate the remainer of the year as resident in 1040 ? We don't quite understand what to put in the 1040NR statement for her (I have a 1042-S so it's easier). Also, should we prorate our interests of our foreign account to reflect only the resident part of the year (1/4 of the interest, corresponding to 4 months)?
